The long-awaited Sotheby’s at Ferrari sale took place on Tuesday, 28th June 2005, in the Ferrari Logistics Building at the Fiorano circuit in Maranello, Italy. The sale was first announced in the fall of 2004 and was originally scheduled for late May 2005 but then postponed by one month. It was enthusiastically described as an unparalleled sale of historic and modern Ferraris, Maseratis and related Memorabilia. And unparalleled it was indeed.

In the past thirty years this author has witnessed many auctions all over the world, from the more sophisticated and traditional British style of Bonhams or Christie’s, to the rather entertaining American format of sales at Monterey and Scottsdale. However, few car auctions have surprised so much like this sale in Italy. Much advertising had been done for this auction and some over-enthusiastic journalists and so-called experts even expected the star of the auction, a 1958 Ferrari 412 S Spider Scaglietti, to fetch over seven Million English Pounds!

The main problem on Tuesday night was that there were simply no bidders for the big cars. 29 Ferraris were offered in total and only 9 were sold. This means that 69 percent of the Ferraris were not sold. A new negative record. What could be the reason for this disaster or should we rather call it a blood bath (aren’t Ferraris mostly red today)? Sotheby’s apparently no longer has its own motor car department and therefore obviously lacks relationships with and connections to wealthy collectors of vintage Ferraris. There were no fewer than seven even-numbered Ferrari competition cars of the 1950 and 1960s available, all estimated at two or more million Euro. However, almost all of these cars had been shopped around the planet for the past one or two years already, with no takers so far. Why should they now all sell in one Tuesday evening with an additional buyer’s premium and taxes of up to 30 percent to be paid? Doesn’t make sense at all. Simply because the sale took place in Ferrari’s hometown Maranello, buyers would not be more motivated to invest. Were there just too many high-dollar competition Ferraris in one sale? It was a big risk indeed.

It appears that the auctioneers simply didn’t manage to generate enough interest for their lots. The telephone bidders didn’t work either. There was just no interest at these high prices. It is also well known that collectors today know each other and know who owns what. They don’t necessarily need an auctioneer in between and are clearly not willing to pay high premiums. The bids at the auction were from the "book". In other words the auctioneer was bidding the reserve. Most no sale numbers (hammer prices) were not from buyers but from the reserve.

Presentation of the cars was another problem. In contrast to American auctions, prospects were not even allowed to start engines or undertake a detailed inspection. This could also be one of the reasons for the failure. Only Ferraris which were fresh on the market, such as the rare 365 California Spider or the lovely 250 GT SWB Berlinetta (sold to a British collector), sold for quite high or at least very good prices. The Ferrari Logistics Building in Maranello provided seating for about 600 people but not all of the chairs were occupied. And northern Italy suffered from a heat wave with up to 39 degrees Celsius.

The factory-owned cars were sold and the 2004 ex-Michael Schumacher F1 Ferrari went for a record of 2.4 Million Euros (hammer price). The last Enzo built (#400) was also sold and proceeds will go to charity. The other Formula One Ferraris didn’t sell, nor did the Maserati 450 S. Surprisingly there wasn’t even a 250 GT Lusso, a 275 GTB or a Daytona in this strange sale. The Enzo Prototype, more looking like a blown-up 348 TB, sold for Euro 170’000. An Enzo engine alone costs this kind of money.

Ferrari collectors and dealers from all over the world were seen in Maranello, all chasing their dreams. Bill Ruprecht, CEO Sotheby’s Worldwide, said: “Today's auction represented a unique assembly of some of the world's greatest cars, which ranged from historic racing cars to some of the finest, fastest modern sports cars ever to have been produced and the sale achieved a number of world auction records. We have very much enjoyed working with Ferrari over the last six months and while we are disappointed that a number of these fantastic cars did not sell, we are pleased that we conducted this sale, which had never been done before at Ferrari and as a result had an experimental element built into it.” It appears that Sotheby’s is not half as disappointed as the vendors. Only 31 percent of the Ferraris offered were actually sold. But the poor result will most probably not have a bad affect on the Ferrari market. Let’s just hope that lessons have been learnt and everyone will soon stop experimenting.

512 M	250 GT TDF Berlinetta	365 California	Mid '60s F1 nosecone in NART colors
Enzo Prototype No. 3	Last Enzo built (no. 400)	412 S Spider Scaglietti	196 SP
512 M	365 California	512 M	212 Inter Berlina 4 posti Ghia

Click here for a list of lots and auction results

© Marcel Massini 01/07/05

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